Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1887-01-26


ject discussed at the prayer-meetfng in
the PresbytcriAp Church last night, In
which the pastor said:
The people devoted to the pleasures of
the world try 70 make il appear, that 10
live christian life is TO give up all pleas
ure, and to go through the world with O
sad countenance and heart bereft of
every JOY That this Is an incorrect view
of the christian life can easily be shown.
The pleasures are not the same as those
which captiyate the people Of the world,
but that they are any less real is a very
great mistake 1t can be shown, too,
that while they differ in kind, they differ
also in degree, so that the christian has
purer pleasures, more varied, more last
ing, and more complete pleasures, than
the people of the world. Christian peo-
pie know about the pleasures Of the
world, because they have been through
them, and can speak Of them The peo-
pie of the world have never tasted of the
joys of the christian, and therefore can
not speak of them with intelligence. The
christian can speak of both. He has
found the pleasures of the world few,
brief unsatisfactory, compared with the
pleasures of the christian.
The Christian finds great delight in
the truths of his holy religion. Philoso-
pliers of every nation and age, have given
the pleasure derived from the use of your
minds very high place. Every students,
Young or old, knows the delights of intel.
lectual pursuits. The Christian religion
offers to us study that cannot be equal
led by any, or all other department of
learning. The highest powers of the
most intellectual are invited to this study,
and all minds have been improved, even
the greatest, by its truths. The christian
student even more truly, may say with
Lord Bacon: Il have taken all knowl-
edge to be my province" He studies not
only the works of God, the great creator,
but His character, and mans relation to
Him. He studies the person, character,
and works of Christ. He learns about
heaven, and the fitness required to enter
upon its employments and joys. The do
main for the intellectual research of the
christian student exceeds by far the do
main Of the worldly student, and after all
his investigations, he feels that ii stretch
es out illumitably on every side. If,
therefore, the man of the world finds de-
light in study, how much more the chris
tian student.
There are. also. joys derived from the
feelings awakened by his religion. Graft
tude is prominent feeling, and this is a
pleasant feeling. The christian feels
grateful to God for the many blessings
that He has conferred upon him, and not
the least of these for the spiritual bless
ings that come through his religion, such
as pardon of sins, peace of conscience,
and adoption into His family. Love is
another pleasant feeling awakened. The
christian loves God and loves his fellow
men. The presence of this feeling in the
heart gives pleasure, such as those who
cultivate hatred cannot understand
Many other pleasant feelings are awaken
ed, such as reverence, humility. patience,
trust, &c. There Is not one painful feel
ing, like anger, or hatred, or envy, awak
ened by this religion, in the heart of the
christian, who is striving to honor God.
Then there is pleasure in all the duties
we perform. The circumstances in which
the christian is placed may be painful,
but even then, the duties he performs are
intended to benefit and improve He has
duties to perform toward God, toward his
fellow men, and toward himself. Many
christians have found such delight in the
performance of their duties, that they
looked upon them as privileges. Rev.
DIR. Tyngance said: Literally there is no
such thing as duty in the gospel. Every
thing there is privilege" Our privileges
are sources of pleasure. In the service of
God s house, and in all the work of the
church, the christian finds delight
Then there is great pleasure in the
memory. The memory of christian ex-
periences affords pleasure to the christian,
when he comes TO look back upon the
past While some men find hell in
solitude, the christian who has lived for
God finds a heaven in it. The recollec-
ton of well spent life is very precious
and delightful to him.
Then the christian has great joy In
hope. The man of the world says, while
| live hope, but the christian says when
die hope. The hopes of the one ter
inmate with the grave; the hopes of the
other reach out into the eternal world
The thought of death mars all the pleas
ure of one, while il intensifies the delight
of the other. Many christian, contem
plating the sorrows and temptations of
life, has said: Thank God that the good
er of John and Charles, said to her child
rem Just before death, When I am re
leased sing song of praise to God. :
Here then in the truths received, in the
feelings awakened, in the duties perform
ed, in the memories possessed, In the
hopes entertained, see the pleasure that is
to be found in our holy religion in this
world.
Religion, then, must be most cheer
full and happy thing to practice, but a
most sad and melancholy thing to neg
lect. >
He is the Man We Want: